U.S. Treasuries plunge on hopes of fall in initial jobless claims; FOMC member Powell in focus

The U.S. Treasuries plunged towards the end of the trading week Thursday on expectations that the country’s initial jobless claims, scheduled to be released later today, will witness a slight fall and as investors wait to watch the FOMC member Powell’s speech later today.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, jumped 3 basis points to 2.36 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields climbed 2-1/2 basis points to 2.88 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note traded nearly 1-1/2 basis points higher at 1.43 percent by 12:00GMT.

Market interest today will centre on the release of the FOMC minutes from the June 14th monetary policy meeting where the committee raised the Federal Funds rate by another 25 basis points to 1.00-1.25 percent.

The focus will be on likely indications of the sequencing of the next steps as investors are looking for further detail on the timing of the next rate hike and the beginning of balance-sheet normalisation.

Lastly, the U.S. Treasuries have been closely following developments in oil markets because of their impact on inflation expectations. The International benchmark Brent futures surged 1.53 percent to USD48.51 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped 1.68 percent to USD45.89 by 11:20 GMT.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 0.40 percent lower at 2,418.25 by 11:20GMT, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 77.91 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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